Danbury City Construction Manager Dan Reisert looks over plans for the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in what will be the school's engineering labs in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program, and a new 300-student Global Studies Academy. The construction project is scheduled to be completed by mid-May and the academy will be open for the 2014 school year. less

Danbury City Construction Manager Dan Reisert looks over plans for the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in what will be the school's engineering labs in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The ... more

Construction workers make progress on the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program, and a new 300-student Global Studies Academy. The construction project is scheduled to be completed by mid-May and the academy will be open for the 2014 school year. less

Construction workers make progress on the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, Technology, ... more

Construction workers make progress on a bathroom of the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program, and a new 300-student Global Studies Academy. The construction project is scheduled to be completed by mid-May and the academy will be open for the 2014 school year. less

Construction workers make progress on a bathroom of the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, ... more

The main entrance of the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program, and a new 300-student Global Studies Academy. The construction project is scheduled to be completed by mid-May and the academy will be open for the 2014 school year. less

The main entrance of the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, Technology, Engineering and ... more

Construction workers make progress on the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program, and a new 300-student Global Studies Academy. The construction project is scheduled to be completed by mid-May and the academy will be open for the 2014 school year. less

Construction workers make progress on the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, Technology, ... more

Danbury Construction Manager Dan Reisert looks at the gym of the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in what will be the school's engineering labs in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program, and a new 300-student Global Studies Academy. The construction project is scheduled to be completed by mid-May and the academy will be open for the 2014 school year. less

Danbury Construction Manager Dan Reisert looks at the gym of the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in what will be the school's engineering labs in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The ... more

Construction workers make progress on the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program, and a new 300-student Global Studies Academy. The construction project is scheduled to be completed by mid-May and the academy will be open for the 2014 school year. less

Construction workers make progress on the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, Technology, ... more

The front of the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program, and a new 300-student Global Studies Academy. The construction project is scheduled to be completed by mid-May and the academy will be open for the 2014 school year. less

The front of the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) ... more

Danbury Construction Manager Dan Reisert looks over plans for the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in what will be the school's gym in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program, and a new 300-student Global Studies Academy. The construction project is scheduled to be completed by mid-May and the academy will be open for the 2014 school year. less

Danbury Construction Manager Dan Reisert looks over plans for the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in what will be the school's gym in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies ... more

Construction workers make progress on the music center of the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program, and a new 300-student Global Studies Academy. The construction project is scheduled to be completed by mid-May and the academy will be open for the 2014 school year. less

Construction workers make progress on the music center of the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student ... more

Danbury Construction Manager Dan Reisert looks over plans for the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in what will be the school's engineering labs in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program, and a new 300-student Global Studies Academy. The construction project is scheduled to be completed by mid-May and the academy will be open for the 2014 school year. less

Danbury Construction Manager Dan Reisert looks over plans for the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in what will be the school's engineering labs in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The ... more

Construction workers make progress on the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program, and a new 300-student Global Studies Academy. The construction project is scheduled to be completed by mid-May and the academy will be open for the 2014 school year.

Construction workers make progress on the new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge in Danbury, Conn. on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014. The Exploration Academies house the district's 300-student Science, Technology,

DANBURY -- More than 300 parents of fifth-graders came to Broadview Middle School on Monday night to learn about the city's new Exploration Academies at Mill Ridge, which is scheduled to open in the fall at the renovated and expanded former Mill Ridge Intermediate School.

The three-year-old, 300-student STEM Academy will move from Rogers Park to the former home of Mill Ridge while the city opens a new middle school Global Studies Program at Mill Ridge.

"We had a really good turnout," Deputy Schools Superintendent William Glass said Tuesday. "The official presentation was about the vision of small learning communities in Danbury and what research says about their value."

The schools have adopted inquiry-based curricula which may converge at Mill Ridge, that educator Frank LaBanca will lead.

Danbury schools will not stop with these two intradistrict magnet schools, Glass said.

"We want to make sure there are choices and there are options," he said.

"There will be many parents who want a middle school comprehensive education program that we offer at the two middle schools now," he said.

The district will look to add smaller schools within the two middle schools.

One might be an environmental program at Rogers Park or health studies at Broadview, which is adjacent to Danbury Hospital.

In addition, a small classical-learning program might be added to each middle school, Glass said.

Students will be selected by a lottery for all three grades of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program and for sixth grade in the Global Studies program, the only grade that will be open in the fall.